Load holding apparatus

ABSTRACT

Load holding apparatus including a cargo cage having a floor, the underside of which defines the support base for the cage. The cage includes a plurality of hollow vertical posts which are open on their bottom extremities and have support rods telescoped upwardly thereinto, the lower extremities thereof projecting below the floor when the cage is suspended. A holder is disposed over the cage floor and is suspended at its periphery from the upper ends of the respective support rods whereby the lower extremities of the support rods will engage a support surface onto which the cage is lowered and will be telescoped upwardly in the respective posts to raise the holder off cargo carried on the cage floor for convenient removal of such cargo and when other cargo has been loaded on the floor and the cage is raised, the rods will drop downwardly in the respective posts to lower the holder onto the top of such cargo to hold it in securely on the floor while the cage is manipulated about.

iUrtiited htntes Entent I111 il d dfii lifir [54] MEAD MULIDHNGAilPlPAlllA'ii'llS ll Clniuns, 7 Drawing Figs.

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214/105, 294/67 EA [5]] llnt.Cl 3666! 1/16 [50] Field oi Search 294/67R,

67 D, 67 DB, 67 E; 214/105 [56] illeterencos Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS1,966,893 7/1934 Harris 294/67 3,332,716 7/1967 Gridley 294/67 PrimaryExaminer-Evon C. Blunlt Assistant Examiner lohnny D. CherryAttorney-Fulwider, Patton, Rieber, Lee 61 Utecht ABSTRACT: Load holdingapparatus including a cargo cage having 2i floor, the underside of whichdefines the support base for the cage. The cage includes a plurality ofhollow vertical posts which are open on their bottom extremities andhave support rods telescoped upwardly thereinto, the lower entremitiesthereof projecting below the floor when the cage is suspended. A holderis disposed over the cage floor and is suspended at its periphery fromthe upper ends of the respective support rods whereby the lowerextremities of the support rods will engage a support surface onto whichthe cage is lowered and will be telescoped upwardly in the respectiveposts to raise the holder off cargo carried on the cage floor forconvenient removal of such cargo and when other cargo has been loaded onthe floor and the cage is raised, the rods will drop downwardly in therespective posts to lower the holder onto the top of such cargo to holdit in securely on the floor while the cage is manipulated about.

LOAD HOLDING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention The load holding apparatus of present invention relates to adevice for holding loosely stacked cargo in a cargo cage while such cageis maneuvered about.

2. Description of the Prior Art Load holding devices have been proposedwhich includes holders for holding cargo in position while the device ismaneuvered about. Devices of this type are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.762,875, 1,834,902, 1,931,931 and 2,784,923. However, these prior artload holding devices are relatively complex in construction and many donot have means for automatically releasing the load when the device islowered to the ground for unloading.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The load holding apparatus of present inventionis characterized by a cage formed with a floor and having downwardlyopening vertical hollow posts which telescopically receive respectivesupport rods, the lower extremities of which project below the cage whenit is suspended. A holder is disposed over the floor and is suspendedfrom the upper ends of the rods whereby such holder will beautomatically lowered onto cargo stacked on the floor when the cage israised and will be automatically raised off such cargo when the cage islowered onto a support surface.

An object of the present invention is to provide load holding apparatusof the type described which applies sufficient pressure to the stackedcargo to hold it securely in position while avoiding crushing thecontainers in which it is packaged.

Another object of the present invention is to provide load holdingapparatus of he type described which automatically secures the cargowhen the cage is lifted and automatically frees the cargo when the cageis lowered into position on the ground.

Another object of the present invention is to provide load holdingapparatus of the type described which is relatively inexpensive tomanufacture and will provide a long and trouble free life.

These and other objects and the advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from a consideration of the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of aload holding apparatus embodying the present invention;

FIGS. 3 and -3 are partial vertical sectional views, in enlarged scale,taken along the respective lines 3-3 and dd of FIGS. I and 2,respectively;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 53 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view, in enlarged scale, taken alongthe line 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The load holding apparatus ofpresent invention includes. generally, a cage 211 including a pluralityof vertically projecting hollow posts 23 which are open on theirrespective bottom ends 25. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, support rods 29are telescoped upwardly within the posts 23 and include lower portions31 which project beneath the cage floor 35 when such cage is raised offthe ground. A holder, generally designated 39, is disposed over thefloor 35 and is suspended at its corners from the upper ends ofrespective rods 29 whereby when the cage 21 is raised, the rods 29 willfall downwardly within the respective posts 23 to lower the holder 39 onthe stacked cargo, generally designated 41, to hold it securely on thefloor When the cage 21 reaches its destination and is lowered onto adoclt or other support surface, as shown in FIG 11, the lowerextremities 311 of the rods 23 will engage such doclt and be raisedupwardly in the respective posts 23 to raise the holder 39 to theposition shown in FIG. 1 to free the cargo All for convenient removalfrom such cage.

Referring to FIG. 5, the posts 23 are in the form of square tubes andthe support rods 29 are formed to complementally interfit the interiorcross section thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 5, t5 and 7, each of the posts 23 are formed withinwardly opening vertical slots 42 which receive the projecting ends ofeyelets d3 secured at their opposite ends to each of the respectivesupport rods 23. Connecting chains ll l are connected on one end withthe eyelets 4'3 and on their opposite ends with eyelets as secured tothe holder 39.

The end posts 23 are connected together on their respective upper andlower extremities by means of cross tubes 15 and $7. The upper crosstubes are connected together by a centrally located hoisting beam 49.Angularly extending struts 511 anchor the outer ends of such crossmembers l5 to the hoisting beam 49.

A hoisting clevis 55 is affixed centrally to the hoisting beam 49 andhas a pair of hoisting cables 57 connected therewith by means ofa pivotmember 5). The holder 33 includes a rectangular rim 6i formed from pipe.Spanning the interior of the rim t'iil is a flexible net 65 thatincludes a plurality of eyelets 67 around its periphery for receipt oflacing ea which secures such net to the rim til.

In operation, when the empty cage 211 is suspended from a cargo loadingcrane (not shown) by means of the cables 57, the support rods 29 will betelescoped fully downwardly within the respective posts 23 and theeyelets l3 will engage the lower ends of the respective slots 12 toretain such rods within the respective posts. As the cage M is loweredonto a dock 71, or the like, the lower extremities 31 ofthe support rods29 will engage such (106k and cause such rods to move upwardly withinthe respective posts 23 to raise the holder 39 to its elevated positionshown in FIGS. I and 3 for receipt of the cargo ill.

The cargo ll is frequently in the form of a plurality of stackedcardboard boxes 73 which are loaded on pallets 75. Consequently, withthe holder 39 in its elevated position, a fork truck carrying suchpallets '75 may be brought into position to load such pallets '75directly on the floor 35 of the cage 21. After the cage II has beenloaded, such cage may be again raised by the cables 57 and the supportrods 29 will drop downwardly within the respective posts 23 and move theholder 39 downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 2 with the flexiblenet 65 covering the top layer of boxes '73 and the rim 61 restingdownwardly around the periphery thereof to hold such boxes securely intheir stacked position while the cage 21 is swung into position over aship hatchway and lowered into a hold. Again, as the cage Jill islowered into the ship hold, the lower extremities 311 of the supportposts 29 will engage the ship declt and automatically raise the holder39 to free the cargo for removal by a forklift moving about the hold ofthe ship.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be apparent that theload holding apparatus ofpresent invention provides a cage havingholding means which automatically opens for receipt of cargo as the cageis placed in position on a dock whereby a forklift operator may readilyload cargo on the cage without necessity of another workman opening suchholding means. As the cage is raised from the dock, the holder is movedinto position on the cargo to hold such cargo securely on the cage as itis swung onto a ship and lowered into the hatchway.

Various modifications and changes may be made with regard to theforegoing detailed description without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

Iclaim:

ll. Load holding apparatus comprising:

a cage including a floor and vertically projecting guide means;

a holder disposed above said floor for holding down cargo placed on saidfloor;

holder support means carried by said guide means for rela' tively freevertical movement with respect thereto and including an actuatingportion formed to project below said cage when said cage is suspendedform a hoist and to engage the ground as said frame is lowered thereto;and

connecting means connecting said holder with said support means wherebywhen said cage is raised said holder will be automatically lowered ontocargo placed on said floor and when said cage is lowered to the ground,said actuating portion will engage the ground and cause said supportmeans to be raised relative to said frame to raise said holder clear ofsaid cargo for convenient removal from said cage.

2. Load holding apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said cage includes a plurality of hollow vertical posts defining saidguide means;

3. Load holding apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said cage includes stop means for limiting downward movement of saidholder with respect to said cage.

4. Load holding apparatus as set forth in claim I wherein:

said holder includes a rigid peripheral rim for surrounding said cargoand a flexible net secured at its periphery to said rim for overlyingsaid cargo.

5. Load holding apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said posts are formed at their respective upper extremities with saidopening slots and said connecting means in cludes connectors projectingthrough said respective slots and connecting with the respective rods.

6. Load holding apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said cage includes stop means for limiting downward movement of saidholder with respect to said cage.

7. Cargo cage apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said holder includes a rigid peripheral rim for surrounding said cargoand a flexible net secured at its periphery to said rim.

8. Cargo cage apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein:

said connectors include rigid portions projecting through the respectiveslots for engaging the lower ends thereof to limit downward movement ofsaid posts when said cage is raised without cargo on said platform.

1. Load holding apparatus comprising: a cage including a floor andvertically projecting guide means; a holder disposed above said floorfor holding down cargo placed on said floor; holder support meanscarried by said guide means for relatively free vertical movement withrespect thereto and including an actuating portion formed to projectbelow said cage when said cage is suspended form a hoist and to engagethe ground as said frame is lowered thereto; and connecting meansconnecting said holder with said support means whereby when said cage israised said holder will be automatically lowered onto cargo placed onsaid floor and when said cage is lowered to the ground, said actuatingportion will engage the ground and cause said support means to be raisedrelative to said frame to raise said holder clear of said cargo forconvenient removal from said cage.
 2. Load holding apparatus as setforth in claim 1 wherein: said cage includes a plurality of hollowvertical posts defining said guide means;
 3. Load holding apparatus asset forth in claim 1 wherein: said cage includes stop means for limitingdownward movement of said holder with respect to said cage.
 4. Loadholding apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said holder includesa rigid peripheral rim for surrounding said cargo and a flexible netsecured at its periphery to said rim for overlying said cargo.
 5. Loadholding apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein: said posts are formedat their respective upper extremities with said opening slots and saidconnecting means includes connectors projecting through said respectiveslots and connecting with the respective rods.
 6. Load holding apparatusas set forth in claim 2 wherein: said cage includes stop means forlimiting downward movement of said holder with respect to said cage. 7.Cargo cage apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein: said holderincludes a rigid peripheral rim for surrounding said cargo and aflexible net secured at its periphery to said rim.
 8. Cargo cageapparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein: said connectors include rigidportions projecting through the respective slots for engaging the lowerends thereof to limit downward movement of said posts when said cage israised without cargo on said platform.